Renewable Fuel Standard

A travel center executive testifying on behalf of NATSO told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the Agency needs a transparent process to guide its assessment of small refinery waiver requests to ensure that such exemptions don’t continue to undermine the law’s intent and decrease demand for biofuels.

NATSO member Beth Westemeyer, Director of Business Development for Anew Travel and Fuel Centers, the retail arm of Zeeland Farm Services in Zeeland, Mich., is scheduled to testify July 18 at the Environmental Protection Agency's public hearing in Ypsilanti, Mich., regarding the agency's proposed renewable fuel standards for 2019 and the biomass-based diesel volume for 2020.

NATSO, the national association representing truckstops and travel plazas, along with the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), submitted an amicus brief last week to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals providing support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) determination that the point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) remain with refiners and importers. NATSO filed the brief in response to legal challenges from some refiners and importers that argue EPA should move the point of obligation to downstream entities.

A dozen members of Congress on June 20 asked Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to stop granting small refineries hardship exemptions from their biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard until he answers questions that would allow Congress to evaluate the program.

President Trump said May 8 that he is considering allowing the unrestricted sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol and will let biofuel exports count toward refiners’ domestic renewable fuel obligations. The proposed changes follow months of fractious negotiations between the corn and oil industries over the future of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). However, major elements of the compromise remained in dispute after the meeting between top administration officials and four senators ended.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 26 that the agency received more than 50 waiver petitions for small refineries to get out of their Renewable Fuel Standard requirements for the 2016 and 2017 compliance years. EPA has come under fire for abusing the waivers to quietly undercut the RFS after the agency exempted one of the nation’s largest oil refining companies from complying with the U.S. biofuels regulation.

NATSO on March 26 sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice outlining the truckstop industry's opposition to a proposed settlement agreement for the bankrupt refinery Philadelphia Energy Solutions. The proposed settlement would absolve the refinery of many of its RIN obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and represents in many ways the latest iteration of the years-long battle between merchant refiners that strongly oppose the RFS and other segments of the fuels supply chain that have adjusted their business models based on the RFS's incentives.

For more than a decade, the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program has sought to improve the emissions characteristics of fuel and support the domestic biofuels sector, while increasing American energy independence and security. The program calls for increasing volumes of renewable fuels—known as renewable volume obligations (RVOs)—to be blended into the nation’s transportation fuel supply every year.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt Dec. 1 requesting that the agency complete several outstanding studies assessing the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on air, water, and land quality.

Delia Moon Meier, owner and senior vice president of the Iowa 80 truckstop, recently applauded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its recent decision to reject proposals to change the current compliance structure under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as well as thanking Iowa Senator Joni Ernst for helping to lead that effort.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 30 finalized its renewable fuel volume mandates for 2018. The final renewable volume obligations (RVOs) are very similar to the Agency’s original proposed mandates that were released in July.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 22 rejected proposals to change the current compliance structure under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), ending a major push by merchant refiners and other obligated parties to shift what is commonly known as the point of obligation from refiners and importers to “rack sellers.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 1 submitted its proposed rule for the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) renewable volume obligations -- and 2019 obligations for biomass-based diesel -- to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review. This marks the final step before the proposal is published in the Federal Register and open for public comment.

Responding to pushback from a number of Midwestern Senators, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt outlined a number of steps the agency intends to take on the Renewable Fuel Standard. Pruitt detailed the changes, which will be beneficial to NATSO members, in an Oct. 19 letter addressed to seven Senators, including Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst and Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer among others.

NATSO on Oct. 19 filed comments with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to the agency's request for input on reducing renewable fuel mandates. Specifically, EPA has suggested that it is considering reducing annual renewable volume obligations (RVOs) by tying them to domestic renewable fuel production capacity, rather than the market's ability to consume renewable fuel. NATSO, in its comments, told EPA that this policy shift would undercut the purpose of the RFS and ultimately lead to higher fuel prices for consumers.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 26 announced that it was seeking public comment on a new approach to establishing renewable fuel mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): Only considering domestic production capacity. If EPA ultimately adopts this new approach, it will substantially lower retailers' incentives to incorporate renewable fuels into their fuel supply. NATSO opposes this policy shift, and in comments it will file with the Agency will urge EPA to recognize that there is a global market for renewable fuels, such as biodiesel, and that the RFS should accommodate fuels regardless of where they are produced.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) on Aug. 22 made a preliminary determination regarding biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, finding that Argentina and Indonesia unfairly subsidize their production of biodiesel. As a result, biodiesel importers will be required to pay cash deposits to the U.S. government on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia until a final ruling on duty rates is made. A final ruling is expected later this year or in early 2018, with a final determination by the International Trade Commission after that.